Disney Flower & Garden Festival - 2011

I’m a girl who loves a good theme.  There’s just about nothing better than theme’ing for the Flower & Garden Festival at Epcot.  We’re back and we’re blooming with all sorts of great flower & garden’y type of things including new Pucker Sticks (Pink Grapefruit, Fig, Hibiscus & Lavender,) Soaps (Cherry Blossom, Jasmine, Orange Blossom & Euca-Mint Loofah,) Skin Sticks & Sprays.  Here’s a peak of what is in-store at the festival.

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Not only do we get to think out of the box for developing products, but also to develop our displays.  We couldn’t get enough of the bright colors, flower pots & bushel baskets.

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What does it look like getting ready for Disney?

We are 11 days away from leaving for the Food & Wine Festival (a 45 day festival to boot.)  What does that mean for our workshop?  Things like producing until we run out of ingredients (which is happening more often than not); back-ups in what gets done (tons of soap needing to be shelved, dishes to be done, ingredients to be ordered…); packing our displays… All while trying to keep product stocked at the workshop to fill wholesale & web orders while I’m away. 

soaps that are waiting to be put up to dry

shelves, some full, some empty – all will be full by the end of the weekend

This doesn’t even include packing for 45 days of unpredictable weather; getting the house in order to be a bachelor pad while I’m away or spending all of the quality time I can with one little T.

Enough for now.  Off to put up that soap!

Flashback: Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival

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I’m a girl who loves a theme.  We outfitted our space with everything from flower pots to window baskets and even a bird bath!

Highlights of the 2010 FnG Festival

The things I will remember most (in no particular order)…

• Bob – the squirrel I befriended the first day we were there, who then went on to become the festival mascot & general talk of the town.
• The guests who would come by just to say “Hi” and to check to see if I ever took a day off (yes, an occasional Monday I was no where to be seen.)
• The Zonies & the Managies
• Throwing a duck – I didn’t actually “throw” a duck.  I just encouraged a duck from not letting nature happen in the middle of my space in front of my son (“Mommy, what are they doing???”)
• The guests who were so excited to see me, because either:
  1. They had met us at Food and Wine in the fall and didn’t realize we were back
  2. They had received our product as a gift (purchased from one of their local stores) and was so excited to meet the person behind the products
  3. They had read about us in several publications (and even called me “famous”)
• The rest of the nature around me including the Lizard that hung out all day; the Toad that visited once a week & the Baby Ducks that scattered across my floor like a bag of marbles.
• My frequent visits from non-festival related cast members.
• Getting added to the products carried in 10 High End Hotels!
• The invisible “I” on top of my booth.
• Stories of a 6’ duck.
• My Favorite Zone Checker
• Being Joan Collins for the Proms

and probably a million other things…

2010 Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival

We’ve been busy this spring… busier than ever before, with the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival.

We’ll just say that the Epcot Food & Wine Festival in the fall was our first date.  We were checking them out, they were checking us out, and we decided that we liked each other… a lot.  So much so that we committed to spend 75 days together!

The festival is now winding down (ends May 16th) and guess what!?!?  We still like each other!  As to not disappoint, the folks at Disney were fantastic.  The Cast Members took great care of us both physically and emotionally.  We had some fantastic laughs, great conversations & the best are the friendships that developed.  The Guests were happy to see (and smell) us.  We were able to see lots of old friends from Food & Wine and made lots of new ones.

Together we trudged through Brrrr….Cold days and nights, then rain and thunderstorms that shut us down.  And finished with the heat and humidity that you can only get in Florida.

This last week is always the hardest.  Mixed emotions about wanting to get home and back in the swing of things (if I even have a swing of things anymore) and knowing that I’m going to miss those that have become such an important part of my daily life for the last 75 days.

We will post pictures of the festival soon, so keep your eyes peeled!

Back to the Real World

It was great to be back.  The minute I walked into the house, I nested.  This is something that I never expected to happen, I thought relax for a moment and take a break.  But no.  I looked forward to doing laundry, washing the dishes and sorting through the huge stack of mail that was waiting by the door. I switched out Teagan’s clothes, organized his closet and dresser.  I made a list of things to nest.
The nesting bliss lasted for about a week.  And then it was pack up and head out to Nashville… then Chicago.
I can’t wait to nest again. 

Rinse at Epcot’s F&W Festival – Part IIIII

Well all the days came and went, then it was time to pack up and go home.

Home!?!?  Really!!!!  I couldn’t wait to see my family & sleep in my own bed.  To cook for them.  Yes – Cook!  I accumulated some amazing cookbooks during my stay and couldn’t wait to use them.

I have to leave???  I spent so much time there.  Made so many friends.  Spent so much time.  How would I acclimate back into the regular world???  It wasn’t long before I had to find out.

It took just about 45 minutes to pack-up and move out everything that took hours & days to set-up. And that was it.  We were done.  The next day we returned to hand over our credentials and parking passes (no more driving on the promenade.)  We’re back to being Disney Civilians.

Rinse at Epcot’s F&W Festival – Part IIII

After setting everything up and getting into my “groove” everything else seemed to just fly by.  My responsibilities were pretty much 5-fold while I was there:

1. Sleep
2. Eat
3. Sell Soap
4. Make Soap
5. Stay Healthy

I have to say, I was pretty much successful at all of the above. My days consisted of:

Waking up @ 7:30 am; Out the Door by 8:30 am; On-Stage (that’s Disney’s term for being in my space  ready for guests) by 9:00 am; Head Home at 9:01 pm; In Bed by 11:00 pm to do it all again the next day.

Don’t let the grueling hours fool you.  It was truly a fun experience, through & through.  I befriended a couple of the College Program peeps who covered a few hours here and there for me so I could buy pants (I had the arctic blast blowing directly on me & silly me only brought capri’s), sleep in an extra few minutes and getting some other Rinse work done.  Out of the 540 hours of the festival I was present for at least 525 if them.

I also met some other amazing people, both guests and cast members, that made my stay so very comfortable & fun. 

I was fortunate enough to sit at the Chef’s table every now & again for dinner, breakfast or an occasional snack. So, maybe it wasn’t a table but more like a plate (paper or plastic) at either a table in a kinda dark hallway for the exit of the old Buzzy ride or sitting on a golf cart right outside the doors.  But I gotta tell you, the food was fabulous!

My space tended to accumulate the cast members smelling all that was new and old and sharing their Rinse success stories.  The favorite items… Speppermint Shave Soap (Ashley’s –one of the event manager’s favorite); Dead Sea Mud & Salt Polish (Robert’s – one of the security host’s favorite); Cioccolato Soap (which I was so surprised that Steve didn’t take a bite out of it) and of course the Cabernet Soap (Jase’s – he who made sure I was well taken care of’s favorite.)  What was so nice about the cast members drifting to my space was that there was always someone around to help pass the occasional slow times & just to talk with in general.

The guests were just as good to me as the cast members.  They were very receptive to Rinse and our story.  They purchased products and then would come back to tell me how much they loved it.  I saw guests several times during their visit and some even made a point to come and say goodbye before they left.  Within the first week of the festival I had blog posts and emails from guests cheering us on… and those haven’t stopped coming even 3 weeks after the festival ended.

This (and a million more moments) confirmed exactly why I went and why I would go back in a heartbeat.

to be cont…

Rinse at Epcot’s F&W Festival – Part III

So we’re there, unloaded and able to drive the BWT.  Let the magic begin.

As we were unpacking and setting up there was bustling everywhere with rigging going up, merchandise being put out, plants potted every which way.  I didn’t want to take any liberties with our space or layout since we were incorporated in such a way as to flow with the festival merchandise.We got down to doing our usual thing, after all, this is just another show – right?


Technically yes, but actually no.  As we were getting the product out and we were placing and fluffing the real magic happened.  One of the merchandisers for the festival offered suggestions, a hand & props/fixtures!  She also had the power to move tables which ended up showcasing our products beautifully (as well as front & center.)
Before Picture (to the left)



And after…

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While we stepped away for a bite to eat the elves were busy at our space.  It’s amazing what the coolest burlap (could I expect anything but from WDW), a few fantastic props/fixtures (which includes an amazing birdbath that I’m now trying to duplicate) and a quick rearranging of the tables in the hands of a fantastic visual merchandiser can do.  We came back to more than I ever could have expected.

The rest of our job that day was easy - fill in the blanks with product.  As we were doing that the excitement started to buzz.  Cast members were intrigued, the smell was drawing them over and I was getting into my groove.

to be cont…

Rinse at Epcot’s F&W Festival – Part II

We headed over to the Wonders building (formerly the home of Body Wars) after we finished unloading HF’s 2nd load.  Everyone else rolled in at a reasonable 8:00 am hour so we were able to get some direction as to where in the world my space was going to be.

We got a golden location conveniently blended in with the festival merchandise.  As guests walked in the door.. BAM, you saw Rinse.  I don’t think I could have planned it any better.

We commandeered a cart and the two of us unloaded the big white truck (BWT) and started situating the tables (of which HF had arranged a sweet selection for my merchandising pleasure.)  In no time we were ready to head back for HF’s load #3.

Easy enough right?  That’s what I was thinking.  We got everything moved in and they hadn’t even asked me to leave yet.  This is good.  But then it happened.  Between the time we parked at the top of a fairly steep hill a collection of golf carts, a semi truck and a van decided to play Tetris with BWT.  HF “measured” the space left and was confident that I could maneuver the BWT through the space to freedom.  After what felt like 10 minutes of Austin Powers in the tunnel I successfully got the BWT turned 90 degrees from where we started and stuck between a steep hill behind me, a semi truck in front of me & a WDW van to the right – the left side was wide open.

HF hunted down the semi driver and got him to graciously give us about 3 more feet to play with.  That just happened to be just enough space for me to get the BWT stuck even worse.  At this point the passenger door of the BWT was ON the BUMPER of the white WDW van.  How this happened I will never know but now I understand why I had to up our auto insurance before they would provide me with a parking pass (did someone warn them about me?)

Just as HF was going to get a forklift to move the van (lord only knows just how it was going to happen, but HF is certainly the person to be able to get it done) my knight in shining armor walked out the door… his name was Andy.  I had no idea who he was or what he did but he offered to help direct me out of my predicament I felt a little better.  Andy, being a dad as I found out later, must have seen the terror in my eyes because he then quickly offered to hop in and get the BWT unstuck.  Which was a feat that took him about 10 minutes to do.

I saw my Disney vendor career pass before my very eyes before it even started.  But because of Andy I got to stick around for another day (46 actually.)  So Andy, if you ever read this posting… Thank You!

to be cont…

Oh and the flashing lights of AREA 51 weren’t there for intimidation at all.  They were the lights from Test Track.  Now don’t I feel silly!

Rinse at Epcot’s International Food & Wine Festival in Epcot 2009

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This certainly isn’t the first time you’ve heard it, and it definitely won’t be the last… Best Made Plans.  While my true intentions were to journal my way through the awesomeness that was the Food & Wine festival, I just couldn’t.

So instead of play-by-play action, here is the Sports Center version – Part I

I am such a very lucky person to have a fabulous artist, Heather A. French (HF), in my life.  She was instrumental during this whole wild ride and allowed me to hunker down at her house for the duration of the festival.  We arrived at her house the evening of Tuesday, September 22.  I was scheduled for set-up on both Wednesday & Thursday opening on Friday.  HF’s set-up was Wednesday with a soft opening on Thursday.  As any good house guest (and excited newbie) would I volunteered for a wild morning starting at 5:00 AM to help HF load into her space on the promenade.  With only 4 and a bit hours of sleep I rolled out of bed ready to help and take it all in.

We drove separate and I was given the instructions “pay attention to where we’re going because it can be confusing and you’ll need to be able to get there on your own.”  Not a lot of sleep, driving the big white pick-up truck in the dark, trying to follow someone who knows where they’re going, trying to remember where I’ve been… was not the best multi-tasking project for me to take on at the time.  Never the less I made it there.  As we crested the hill there it was… AREA 51.

Ok, so it wasn’t AREA 51, but you could have fooled me.  We approached a guard shed.  A bunch of red and yellow lights were spinning everywhere.  Two sets of gates and big yellow and black striped barricades blocked the entrance.  Following HF I was praying that she hadn’t led me a stray.  That all of my credentials were set-up and that they would allow me to pass through which they did.

As we headed to HF’s space, which was located between Japan & Morocco, she gave me the tour via cell phone.  We drove around the backside of the world showcase (you’re not missing much, it’s actually pretty drab.)  The Earth was lit and spinning, a boat was being repainted and FYI, you can’t make a complete circle in a car (Epcot’s big ball is in the way.)

The highlight of my 5:00 am wake-up call was that I got to drive on the promenade.  Yes it’s true.  It felt so weird.  I was paranoid that I was certainly going to run over something and get thrown out of the festival before I even had a chance to unload the big white truck.  After quickly unloading HF’s car and doing a U-Turn in Japan (there wasn’t a sign saying I couldn’t) I skirted off the forbidden road without doing any damage, thank goodness.

We tried to unload the big white truck, but there was no telling where in the world my space was going to be and no right minded person was there at the crack of dawn to tell us so back to HF’s we went to reload.

to be cont…

We're here... in Epcot

Hello everyone!

Wow, what a crazy and wild ride this has been!  I just wanted to check in to let you know that everything is going magically... would you expect anything less from Epcot!?!?

The days are a bit long (9 am - 9 pm) every single day, so needless to say, I'm a bit tired.

I'm really taking this first week to settle into my spaces (one on stage & one off stage), getting a work flow down & making sure I have enough inventory.  After that, I'll be able to chronicle my journey better.  Images are coming I promise.

But for now. good night.

Rinse - a Featured Vendor @ Epcot's Food & Wine Festival

Yes, your heard me right!  Rinse Bath & Body is going to be a featured vendor at the 2009 Epcot International Food & Wine Festival.

You may ask yourself:
"Soap.  Food.  Wine.  I don't get it?!?"

Well here's your answer:
With the exception of a synthetic fragrance (which we use in only a handful of our products) you eat just about EVERYTHING that goes into them everyday.  Ironically enough, most of the ingredients in our products are found in very fine chocolates (yum!)

We feel that you shouldn't put anything on your skin that you wouldn't eat.

We also let food inspire us all the time.  From the packaging to the names (truffles, candy...) to the look and even some of the scents (Cioccolato, Nectar...)  We are foodies and we aren't afraid to share it with the world!

I love food. Ok, so that doesn't have anything to do with it, but it sure will be convenient for my tummy!

We are so excited to be a part of such an anticipated event (and are launching a handful of exclusive magical products at the event.)  The line-up of top chefs & winerys is unreal.  The entertainment is going to be top-notch.  And Rinse, will be in the thick of it!

Our little space in the world of Epcot will be in the Festival's Welcome Center.  Our products will be available from 9:00 AM - 9:00 PM every day of the week from September 25 - November 8. 

And yes, I'll be there (in Orlando and probably at our space) the entire time.  Stay tuned here because I hope to blog my journey from pre F&W through the whole thing.